Battle for ESASD school board takes shape

Wednesday

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to identify Robert J. Romagno as one of the candidates for the May 21 primary.

EAST STROUDSBURG — Six of nine seats on the East Stroudsburg Board of Education are up for election this year.

Twenty candidates have announced their intent to vie for those seats. Of the six current board members with terms expiring this year, only Robert Huffman, a former board president and longtime veteran of the board, has opted not to seek reelection.

Here are some of the candidates in the running for the May 21, 2019 primary:

Lisa VanWhy

Current board President Lisa VanWhy was appointed in December as the district’s first-ever female school board president. VanWhy was first elected to the board in 2015 and played a leading role in the most recent round of contract negotiations for the district’s teachers and other professional staff. She served previously, in 2018, as chairwoman of both the finance and professional staff negotiations committee

Debbie Kulick

Former board Vice President Debbie Kulick was first elected to the board in 2015, serving in 2018 as vice president. Kulick additionally served in 2018 as chairwoman of the Support Staff Negotiations Committee. She is president of the Bushkill Emergency Corps and was also elected in 1995 as the first female Supervisor of Middle Smithfield Township, serving one of her three terms as Board of Supervisors chairwoman before her 2007 resignation.

Wayne Rohner

Property and Facilities Committee Chairman Wayne Rohner also won his first board term in 2015, receiving his appointment to head the facilities committee that same year. Rohner was formerly employed as the zoning officer for Middle Smithfield Township. His 2013 termination from that role prompted a lengthy legal battle with the township over his decision to deny the school district a certificate of occupancy for the then-newly renovated Middle Smithfield Elementary School.

Keith Karkut

Keith Karkut was appointed to the board in December 2017 to fill the vacant seat left by former board member Ronn Bradley, who — despite winning reelection by more than 1,600 votes — was unable to take the oath of office due to health reasons. Karkut had served previously, from 2005-09, as a member of the school board. He works privately as proprietor of the Karkut Entertainment Group.

Jason Gullstrand

Jason Gullstrand was appointed to the board in August to replace former Policy Review Committee Chairwoman Judy Summers, who resigned that month after previously announcing plans to move out of state. Gullstrand is employed as a history teacher by the neighboring Pocono Mountain School District.

Damary Bonilla

Damary Bonilla, a former candidate for Pennsylvania’s 189th Legislative District, is one among several new names that will appear on the May 21 primary ballot. In addition to her prior runs for office, Bonilla also serves on the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs.

Mitchell Marcus

Former Middle Smithfield Township Supervisor Mitchell Marcus has thrown his hat in the ring for one of the school board’s six available seats. Marcus served a single term on the township’s board of supervisors, from 2009-15, and was at one time the sole member of that board after he successfully ousted former Supervisors Bob Spano Jr. and Scott Schaller through a legal settlement.